The German Bundestag has approved draft legislation to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement. 571 representatives support the UPCA, 73 voted against. It means the necessary 2/3 majority was easily achieved. There were three abstentions. The vote is an important step towards introduction of the Unitary Patent system, which can enter into force only after…
(UPDATED) The German draft ratification bill of the Unified Patent Court Agreement will be discussed in the crucial legal committee of the Bundestag next Wednesday. It is one of the issues that on the agenda of the legal committee for 25 November 2020, which was published today. According to this report of Bristows, the draft…
In Germany the re-ratification process of the Unified Patent Court Agreement – which is necessary after the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) partially upheld a complaint last March and declared the first ratification procedure invalid – is progressing rapidly. The decisive reading in the Bundestag, which will make clear whether the UPCA gets support from the…
Crucial months are ahead for the Unitary Patent project. In Germany the re-ratification process of the Unified Patent Court Agreement is progressing rapidly, but the threat of new constitutional complaints is looming. Two weeks ago, the Bundesrat approved the UPC ratification bill. Yesterday, in first reading, the Bundestag referred the bill to the parliamentary committees…
The Unitary Patent system can start in the near future. That is one of the conclusions of a meeting held yesterday by the Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court. According to a press release, on the agenda were “issues triggered by the recent events in Germany and the United Kingdom. The Committee took note…
Cars and other motor vehicles operate such sophisticated communication technologies that today they operate almost like “smartphones on wheels”. This dependency on electronic communication means auto-manufacturers require access to the latest 4G and 5G standards essential to navigation and communications. Of course, these essential technologies are often patented and thus there are a range of…
The question whether SPCs should be available for new therapeutic applications of previously approved active ingredients has been a matter of debate ever since the SPC Regulation for Medicinal Products came into force in the European Union more than a quarter-century ago. While a literal reading of the SPC Regulation would clearly seem to exclude…
A personal account on the oral proceedings I recently had before the Boards of Appeal I recently had oral proceedings at the EPO’s Boards of Appeal for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. As many practitioners may be interested in how this is organized, I am happy to share…
The provisional application period of the Unified Patent Court Agreement can start before the end of this year. That is the expectation of Winfried Tilmann, consultant at Hogan Lovells and one of the founders of the court. In an interview with Kluwer IP Law, Tilmann comments on the German government’s initiative to re-ratify the UPCA…
The March ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) in Germany that the German ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) was void because it didn’t get the required two-thirds majority, increased the uncertainty about the viability of the project. But the debate is far from over. Patrick Breyer, member of the European Parliament…
